Leader: Miriam Capri (UNIBO); Other collaborator(s):
Multidimensional telemonitoring of CVD-associated multimorbidity and disability. Cardio-respiratory fitness is a key determinant of healthy aging. To address the complexity of age-related multimorbidity, elderly patients hospitalized for acute CVD complications will enter an ad-hoc developed weekly multidimensional smart-phone telemonitoring of functional, cognitive, and cardiovascular parameters (exploring both cardiac skeletal myopathy and sarcopenia-associated “not-functional cardiac hypertrophy”). Patient-reported outcomes and data collected will be integrated to feed AI-based risk stratification and identification of aging trajectories to optimize interventions for improved short- and long-term outcomes.
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results: CAROMIRNA-19 project, included in Age.it, has currently identify some biomarkers able to distinguish between asymptomatic and symptomatic inpatients affected by carotid stenosis (> 70 %) and comorbidities, as described in WP3 task 3.1. The work has been submitted to Frontiers in Endocrinology (section of aging). Frailty Index and SNAC-K index calculation for multimorbidity are still ongoing related to population 1, in collaboration with Partner UNISR (Prof Patrizia Rovere-Querini/Dr. Sarah Damanti).
The current challenge (2024) is the recruitment of the population 2 i.e., patients (> 65 years old) with different level of carotid stenosis and affected by comorbidities to be compared with population 1 focusing on the identified biomarkers. Final objective will be the possibility to identify predictive biomarkers of stenosis progression and to measure those biomarkers in other sample collections (from other partners) to confirm biomarkers specificity for atherosclerosis.
Main policy/industry/practice implications: Presenting and sharing the research project on Organizational Health Literacy to Careggi teaching Hospital. One of the focus is how OHL can forefront the difficulties to access to hospital healthcare services - particularly for older people.
Status: Ongoing recruitment of population 2; as of today, there are 21 patients (T1: 21; T2: 9; T3: 9; T4: 2).
Goal by the end of recruitment: 40-50 patients (max) for two stages (total 80-100).
We are validating the molecular signature identified in the published study: "Circulating CXCL9, monocyte percentage, albumin, and C-reactive protein as a potential, non-invasive, molecular signature of carotid artery disease in 65+ patients with multimorbidity: a pilot study in Age-it." Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2024 Jul 23;15:1407396.
The recruitment of patients with carotid artery stenosis at different percentage is ongoing in collaboration with the Vascular Surgery Unit, IRCCS- S. Orsola Hospital (Bologna). This population, named 2nd, will permit to assess the prediction value of the identified molecular signature (Capri et al., 2024). In October, November and December patients have been enrolled by specialized medical doctor and Capri’s team. The current total recruitment of the 2nd population is 30 at T1. During the next months the T2 recruitment of the same patients should start.